Thoughts on GD Changes Topic

The engine was a good solid version. It did need some tweaks. But it didn't need to be blown up.

Yes the majority of those coaches enjoyed what they played and didn't enjoy what came after it. These coaches were the ones who made it the game and the site that it was.

I really doubt that we will ever see the greater share of these guys ever come back. The reason I believe is that such a bad taste was left in a lot of guy's mouths. Those first 5 seasons after 2.0 was rolled out the game was really awful, it did get better. Not what it was but better. WIS should have suspended charging for 2.0 when it was immediatly known that it was a very broken game. At the very least 1.0 should have been put back in and 2.0 put into testing where it belonged.

Myself, I had as many as 11 teams on 3 accounts. I am now down to 1 team on 1 account with no plans or interest to revive anymore teams. My last team is a rebuild which has been my favorite part of GD and it is maybe over half done. I have 2-3 more seasons to finish rebuilding Sam Houston and then I will likely retire.

I play HBD now. Truly a fun and challenging game. Also giving HD another shot.

I won't argue that the original game engine "needed" to be blown up, but as someone who occasionally dabbles in programming, sometimes it makes sense to start from scratch. After tweak, and bandaid, and slight adjustment, and a little bit of code here to fix a glitch, applications can become a "spaghetti bowl" of code and become difficult, if not impossible, to manage. Plus, changes in technology can sometimes "force" a blow up in order to achieve performance increases.

The problems with 2.0 began with the developer, who simply would not listen to the input from the community at large or the coaches' council. He rolled out a poorly tested product that had glaring, disastrous faults. And, in a stroke of horrible timing, WIS changed the way reward points were awarded, reducing the outlay dramatically. They may have NEEDED to do that from a financial perspective, but the timing could not have been worse, coming on top of the disaster of "Conte's Inferno".

This caused a mass exodus of coaches from the game, but not from the forum - and so anyone that joined the game at that point, even after the 2.0 engine was made -- well, less crappy would be about the nicest way I could say it - was immediately bombarded with how terrible the game was. VERY FEW of them stuck around, and what you have left now is a sliver of what was once a thriving user community.

Posted by bhazlewood on 8/12/2013 12:00:00 PM (view original):I won't argue that the original game engine "needed" to be blown up, but as someone who occasionally dabbles in programming, sometimes it makes sense to start from scratch. After tweak, and bandaid, and slight adjustment, and a little bit of code here to fix a glitch, applications can become a "spaghetti bowl" of code and become difficult, if not impossible, to manage. Plus, changes in technology can sometimes "force" a blow up in order to achieve performance increases.

The problems with 2.0 began with the developer, who simply would not listen to the input from the community at large or the coaches' council. He rolled out a poorly tested product that had glaring, disastrous faults. And, in a stroke of horrible timing, WIS changed the way reward points were awarded, reducing the outlay dramatically. They may have NEEDED to do that from a financial perspective, but the timing could not have been worse, coming on top of the disaster of "Conte's Inferno".

This caused a mass exodus of coaches from the game, but not from the forum - and so anyone that joined the game at that point, even after the 2.0 engine was made -- well, less crappy would be about the nicest way I could say it - was immediately bombarded with how terrible the game was. VERY FEW of them stuck around, and what you have left now is a sliver of what was once a thriving user community.

This might be hard to read due to the size. It's a chart of all the worlds and their human vs SIM population for data I have in the GUESS Database. The line in red is when 2.0 was released (and a flurry of free seasons to go along with it.)

Those numbers are incredibly telling. Less than 1/3 of teams now are human coached, which makes for a less interesting game. The community is not always the draw but it's the hook. It gets people to stay many times. There is a cavernous void where part of the community used to be.

The "Pre 2.0" numbers are for the last season prior to the rollout of the 2.0 Engine. Those are not the high-water mark by any means. I'm not going to count the initial roll-out of 2.0 as a population high point because so many of those were free "one and done" accounts.

We have lost a lot, and like jibe said I bet most won't come back. We still get some scattered new users but many don't stay long. We used to have waiting lists for worlds and now you sometimes pick up a defending national champ or contender after rollover. Thanks for those numbers Bob, very interesting.

I started on 2.0 and even though there have been a few headscratchers, I enjoy the game for what it is. I dont mind 3.0 basic and have no desire to play advanced. one thing that has damn near killed my interest is the negativity in the game. A problem I see is that the teams that are successful are the ones that always have a coach. Most newbies get stuck with bottom of the barrel crap. i enjoy rebuilds so its not a big deal with me. When I say negativity I'm referring to those coaches that go 9-0 and get beat in a heartbreaker, then whine that the engine is broke and they go 12-1 for the season. 3.0 isnt going to save the game as far as bringing back coaches and the reason is because now the newbies get stuck with crappy teams and running basic are behind the 8 ball to make matters worse.

Posted by starfinder77 on 8/13/2013 1:05:00 AM (view original):I started on 2.0 and even though there have been a few headscratchers, I enjoy the game for what it is. I dont mind 3.0 basic and have no desire to play advanced. one thing that has damn near killed my interest is the negativity in the game. A problem I see is that the teams that are successful are the ones that always have a coach. Most newbies get stuck with bottom of the barrel crap. i enjoy rebuilds so its not a big deal with me. When I say negativity I'm referring to those coaches that go 9-0 and get beat in a heartbreaker, then whine that the engine is broke and they go 12-1 for the season. 3.0 isnt going to save the game as far as bringing back coaches and the reason is because now the newbies get stuck with crappy teams and running basic are behind the 8 ball to make matters worse.

I'm not sure what the solution for GD is.

Rebuilding teams is ridiculously easy now. You can go from all Sims to NC in 4 seasons. It used to be that not only did you get stuck with a bad team, but you also had to deal with a mostly/fully human schedule every season.